Dogs, fleas and Politicians

Residents on town borderline abandoned by town governments

By Susan Clayton

This is what Copar neighbor Tina Shea's
well water looks like after Copar blasts

A version of this article ran as a letter to the editor in the Westerly Sun

This is my fourth piece for Progressive Charlestown about life under the shadow of the Copar Quarries. I decided to write this article after seeing the testimony of Christina Holden Shea in the Westerly Sun and Progressive Charlestown about the poisoning of her well.

I live about a third of a mile from Copar Quarry and want to say that everything Tina wrote is not only true, it is what I and my neighbors on Niantic Highway experience as well.

Every detail is exactly how it is for us, every single day. There have been damages to homes all over the area, but we in Charlestown have the added burden of no town water.

These blasts take place in ancient granite formed millions of years ago. It is layered, and running between the layers are rifts where the water flows. This is where we drill to get our water.

Enormous blasts, such as those we are experiencing on a more and more frequent basis from Copar’s Bradford quarry, shift the plates. Sand, rubble, rocks and debris fill up the rifts and dam the water.

Mark Stankiewicz - go complain to your insurance company

I was callously told by Charlestown Administrator Stankiewicz to report my well damage to my homeowners’ insurance, and they would pay half, leaving me having to pay thousands of dollars I simply don’t have. 

Besides, no matter how many wells you drill, every new blast from Copar would simply dam the water again at some point.

The damage we suffer is palpable. The damage to our way of life perhaps unfixable.

Imagine being told everything you have worked so hard for has become valueless. 

The way Copar Inc. entered Westerly has yet to be fully understood. More facts seem to come out with every passing week. Perhaps it may come to pass that those responsible at the very start had no idea what (or who) they were getting into bed with. The advice my Dad gave me about relationships, terse and cherce, was "Lie down with dogs and get up with fleas".

In Charlestown and Westerly, leadership seems to be about finding
someone else to blame or someone else to pass the buck to

What astounds me is the ducking, weaving and feinting that both town councils have employed to "protect" us, with barely any results. If a person enters public life, it should be to serve all citizens, not just the rich and the influential. Just because we don’t all live with an ocean view doesn’t make us lesser than those who do.

When my daughter Krista discussed becoming an educator with me, I pointed out to her that she would find, in public education, everyone from the lowest to the highest common denominator, poorest to richest. 

Teaching, like politics, should be considered a vocation, not a job. That her devotion needs be to one and all. She's lived up to that admirably, and how I wish I could same about our local politicians, but I cannot.

After the last cancelled Westerly Copar session, I managed to get a few words in with Charlestown Town Council President Tom Gentz. The meeting was to be about blocking Copar access to Quarry Rd. I pointed out to him that if this was achieved, the next place they would look would be Niantic Highway, which is a rough dirt road.

I said that if he could help us get Niantic Highway back on the roster as a town road, he would show his commitment to helping us and save us terrible trouble .That it would make up for the rudeness and broken promises.

Gentz passed his Copar resolution and now washes his hands of it

I will never forget the last meeting I attended with the Town Council in Charlestown. I stood up and asked him if he would pledge the same amount, fifty thousand dollars, that he spent aiding the supposedly elite homeowners who were afraid that the wind farm would addle their brains. He sneered at me and said "we don't have to, that's Westerly."

Since Niantic Highway is in Charlestown, he couldn’t use “that’s Westerly” as an excuse. Instead, he said Niantic Highway isn't in his realm, but that he would be glad to pass it on to the proper department. He said that in front of several of my neighbors.

As of today, I have heard nothing.

Town leaders in both Westerly AND Charlestown have let us down. Maybe Copar is just too tough for them or too clever. Or maybe they just lack the courage.

For Sue’s earlier articles, click here and here and here.